


Us and Them

by JessBakesCakes



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 09:15:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28740858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JessBakesCakes/pseuds/JessBakesCakes
Summary: "Everyone on this plane, and the next plane, and every plane in the entire planar system and beyond, needs to know how absolutely fucking legendary we are." Candlenights 2020 Gift Exchange, Barry/Lup.
Relationships: Barry Bluejeans/Lup
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9
Collections: The Candlenights Zone (2020 Exchange)





	Us and Them

**Author's Note:**

> Joyous Candlenights to all! This is a gift for theocouer @ tumblr. This has a T rating for canon typical innuendo and wordy-durds as Travis would say, but otherwise no content warnings apply. I hope you enjoy it, friend!

Every now and then, Lup gets in one of these… moods. 

Maybe it’s not even a mood. It’s like she gets tunnel vision. On this particular evening, she and Barry have finished their work a little early. They’ve had a nice, quiet dinner and now they’re sharing a blanket on the couch. She has her toes tucked underneath his legs and her back is leaned against the arm of the couch, watching him read. It’s very… domestic. 

In a good way, of course, but… if she’s being honest with herself, it’s still a little buck wild. She didn’t anticipate falling for Barry this hard, this quickly. If you could even justify calling the better part of a century as  _ quick _ . She’s discovered that she likes being coupled up. Lup is independent as hell, but she’d be lying if she said she didn’t love being pursued, being wooed. There’s something to be said for being in a relationship where someone respects and encourages that independence... but also loves the chase.

Okay, now she’s in her own head. 

Ever since their concert at the conservatory, they’ve been inseparable. Lup loves that. Barry’s the best partner - smart, attentive as hell, complimentary, and with an ass that won’t quit, especially in those blue jeans. Every time they have a new “first” it carries her through what can be some grueling work. And some lonely work, in cycles where one or the other of them ends up beefing it early.

“Hey, Bar,” Lup says, breaking the silence.

“Yeah?” Barry closes his book and turns to look at her. 

Lup doesn’t think she’ll ever tire of this weird and twisty feeling in her guts that she gets when his eyes meet hers. 

Yeah, okay, she’s definitely in her own head tonight. Foooor sure. If Taako ever heard a word of this saccharine… whatever it was floating around up there in her brain, he’d never let her hear the end of it. 

She takes a beat to figure out how she wants to pose this question to Barry. “Do you think we’re as cool as that tiefling couple we met in that world a few cycles ago?” 

“Huh,” Barry starts. “I don’t really think I paid much attention to them, to be honest. We were pretty busy that cycle.”

“Yeah, we were,” Lup says, raising her eyebrows.

“You know what I mean,” Barry laughs. 

“I do. You did meet them though,” Lup presses. “You know, one of them had that cool voice?”

Barry shrugs. “I know who you’re talking about. I just didn’t really spend as much time with them as you did.”

Lup digs her toes further underneath Barry’s legs. “What about that human couple from one of the very first cycles? She had that rad hair and her partner was a bard? Do you remember them? They were so awesome.”

He adjusts his glasses. “Yeah, I remember them, too, but… I didn’t really pay too much attention to them, either. I was kind of focused on the job.”

“Yeah, yeah, of course. I mean, we all were. But didn’t you, like… let your mind wander? For like a second? At all?”

His dedication to his work is one of the most frustrating things about him, but one of the most endearing. Lup had a feeling he wouldn’t have noticed any particular chemistry between those couples, but she also sort of had this small hope that he’d give her something. Anything. A nugget of wisdom, an observation about their own relationship. Still chasing that lightning bolt feeling of another ‘first’.

“Well, we’ve spent a ton of time together, Lup,” Barry says. “That’s a hell of a lot of mind wandering.”

“For sure,” Lup agrees, “and I love every second of it. But… I also sorta wonder. Which iconic couple are we? Are we cool bard person and rad hair girl? Or even that dragonborn couple we met, they were hella interesting. Ooh, do you remember those dudes from one of the very first cycles? They were wicked good looking; they were pretty much hanging all over each other?”

“Lup,” Barry says, trying to get a word in edgewise.

“Or even some of the couples from before we got on the Starblaster,” Lup continues. “What about Daena and Ernan? They’re classic, you love those books. Or Daphyra and Sharie? Everyone knows them, they’re fucking perfect, too. Taako met Onyx and Azure once, he says the chemistry there is off the charts, they’re not faking it. They’re the real deal.”

“Lup,” Barry repeats.

Lup doesn’t stop. “We have to be as cool as some of them. At least one of them. Which couple are we? We’re absolutely fucking legendary, clearly, so we’ve gotta have that timeless, recognizable couple people compare us to.”

“Why do we need that?” Barry asks. His tone isn’t accusatory, it’s curious. 

“Because,” Lup insists. “When people talk about us, I want them to know how amazing we are. What we’ve got going on isn’t just some boring, regular relationship. We’re so much cooler. We’re god-tier.”

“We are,” Barry agrees, gently putting a hand on Lup’s knee. “We know that. What does it matter if everyone else does?”

“Have you met me, Barold? Everyone on this plane, and the next plane, and every plane in the entire planar system and beyond, needs to know how absolutely fucking legendary we are. I want to tell literally every being in existence about us. And in order for their minds to comprehend the awesome, they need a comparison. They need something to look to, to explain to people just how absolutely and ridiculously excellent we are together.”

Barry laughs and opens his book. “Eh. I think people will get that on their own. Besides, we’re Barry and Lup. We’re way cooler than all of them, anyway.” He adjusts his glasses and picks up where he left off reading. “No comparison. Off the charts level cooler.”

Lup’s eyes widen. He drops a bomb like that and just… reads? What the hell? Who is this guy? Who does he think he is? Why is he so… fucking perfect? 

“Barry.”

“Yeah?” He closes his book again.

Lup grins. “Get over here so I can smooch your face off.”


End file.
